Kyle Law | Psychology

Prosocial behavior across distance in typical populations.

The work we do in special populations ultimately stems from an interest in identifying the psychological features that underlie exceptional prosocial behavior in typical adults. Indeed, people often favor helping those close to them over distant others and perceive a conflict between maximizing global welfare and fulfilling obligations to themselves and those nearby. However, our findings suggest that the same features that promote close relationships and self-concern can also drive concern for others at greater distances. This is promising, because it indicates that capacities most adults already possess — care for themselves and their close connections — can be expanded to include distant others without undermining existing bonds.

While our research shows that some features that promote the expansion of prosocial concern across distance in the general population are rooted in stable personality traits, others, such as capacities in imagination, coping strategies in the face of grand challenges, moral values, reasoning, and empathy, are more malleable. Consequently, we've found that intervening on these more malleable features can have profound consequences on altruistic attitudes and behaviors.

SELECT PUBLICATIONS

*Denotes Joint First-Authorship and Equal Contribution.

Law, K. F.*, Syropoulos, S.*, Crimston, C. R., Markowitz, E., Milfont, T. L., Claessens, S., Kyritsis, T., Atkinson, Q., Bastian, B., & Rottman, J. (2025). Cross-national insights into moral expansiveness: Selective valuation of nature versus humans. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 107, 102778. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102778

Law, K. F., Syropoulos, S., O’Connor, B. B., & Young, L. (2024). The probabilistic price of life across time: Generational and probabilistic distance render a life today worth more than ten tomorrow. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672241303993

Syropoulos, S., & Law, K. F. (2024). Cultural tightness and its association with national levels of peace: Evidence from a cross-national investigation. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 30(3), 445–453. https://doi.org/10.1037/pac0000725

Syropoulos, S.* & Law, K. F.*, & Young, L. (2024). Caring for present and future generations alike: Longtermism and moral regard across temporal and social distance. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 13684302241242115. https://doi.org/10.1177/13684302241242115

Law, K. F., Campbell, D., & Gaesser, B. (2022). Biased benevolence: The perceived morality of effective altruism across social distance. Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 1461672211002773. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672211002773

Fowler, Z., Law, K. F., & Gaesser, B. (2021). Against empathy bias: The moral value of equitable empathy. Psychological Science, 32(5), 766–779. https://doi.org/10.1177/095679762097996

Link(s) to Press Coverage: The Conversation

ONGOING WORK

*Denotes Joint First-Authorship and Equal Contribution.

Law, K. F., Bae, S., Young, L., & Syropoulos S. (2025). Dispelling the myth of moral inversion: Liberal moral universalism coexists with, rather than replaces, concern for close others. Under Revision.

Xiao, Z., Law, K. F., Wu, D., Mah, A., Dixon-Gordon, K., Markowitz, E., Nteta, T., Reid, A., Ginn, J., Suh, S. M., Lickel, B., Young, L., & Syropoulos, S. (2025). Perceived similarity and its consequences: Political misperceptions and intergroup attitudes in the U.S. Under Review.

Bae, S., Syropoulos, S., Law, K. F., O’Connor, B., Amormino, P., Crimston, C., Bastian, B., Marsh, A., & Young, L. (2025). Altruistic, not reputational concerns, drive human prosociality, values, and aspirations across the world. Under Review.

Link(s) to Press Coverage: Nautilus Magazine

Antoniadis, A., Law, K. F., Rogers, B., Young, L., Goya-Tochetto, D., Amormino, P., & Syropoulos, S. (2025). Impartial intergenerational beneficence predicts interest in high-impact, long-term oriented careers. Under Review.

Law, K. F., Young, L., & Syropoulos, S. (2025). Who cares about the future? A large scale investigation into the sociodemographic predictors of self- and other-oriented future concern. Under Review.

Fowler, Z., Stone, K., Law, K. F., Young, L., & Syropoulos, S. (2025). Uncovering and targeting individual differences predicting identification with all of humanity. Under Review.